A global politics of human rights professor at Arizona State University gave her students two options for final exams: take a test or do a group project. Of course, the class went with option two and created an anti-Trump protest in lieu of a written exam.
Professor Angeles Maldonado endorsed the decision saying, “The class decided that as a group project they wanted to make their voices heard about the issues that are affecting them today, so instead of just reading about the human-rights violations, they’d speak out about the current violations that are happening.”
AZCentral.com states that a group of 20 students protested in front of the school’s library, carrying signs and standing shoulder-to-shoulder to form a human wall — a “wall against hate” — as a direct protest against President Trump’s immigration reform.
One student said, “This was something that we all got together and said we would express some of the things we don’t like, so a lot of the other people here are protesting things like immigration, immigration ban, women’s rights, things like that.”
Others from outside the class joined the protest which also touched on Black Lives Matter, LGBT rights, and the justice system. A Women and Gender Studies major said, “I’ve been going out to a lot of protests lately to show the administration that we don’t approve of them and to show the people in our community that there are people who support them.”
But the protest did create a bit of a problem for students trying to navigate the campus, as AZCentral points out:
At one point, Arizona State University personnel asked the group to relocate in order to stop blocking the sidewalk. Protesters then stood in a staggered line, with about a foot between each person, instead of standing shoulder to shoulder. Campus police then were called to the scene, as the protesters changed from holding signs to linking arms, walking back and fourth in front of the grassy area of Hayden Lawn.
Passers-by had some difficulties finding their way around the linked demonstrators, so ASU's campus police stepped in to give a second warning, this time directly to Maldonado. The chain of people then progressed onto Hayden Lawn to avoid any other warning and the protest continued without incident.
Students from Maldonado’s class really enjoyed their free time outside test-free final, exclaiming, “This is better than a final.”
Yeah, it sounds like they’re getting a first-class education.
